"Knee-deep in flowers we'll stray
We'll keep the showers away. . .
And tiptoe through the tulips with me."Al Dubin and Joe Burke, 1929, "Tiptoe through the Tulips with Me"; repopularized by Tiny Tim, 1968
Former president George W. Bush published a Presidents' Day message in praise of George Washington.
Bush tiptoed around the Donald Trump problem.
I don't get why George W. Bush -- Bush 43 -- is careful not to offend Donald Trump.
I get why Cabinet members flatter and fawn over Trump; it is the price of keeping their positions. I get why GOP House and Senate members handed congressional power over to Trump; 100%-obedience is necessary to keep Trump from supporting a primary opponent.
But why is Bush 43 tiptoeing?
Trump repeatedly insulted Bush and his family. He contradicted and condemned Bush 43's policies on immigration, on trade, on our alliances, and on the norms and practices of the presidency. Trump is a flagrant scofflaw, swashbuckling through presidential decorum, while Bush 43 generally played by the norms of polite company and presidential tradition.
Yes, there was a moment of self-aggrandizement when he climbed out of a fighter jet in a flight suit below a "Mission Accomplished." sign, but even that incident creates a distinction from Trump. The Bush team let the image drop. No more cosplay.
Bush's Presidents Day essay commended George Washington's modesty and restraint. Washington served his country. He did not try to hold onto power. Bush's essay was accompanied by a photo of the giant John Trumbull painting in the Capitol depicting Washington voluntarily relinquishing power.
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| NY Times headline |
The New York Times exemplifies the reaction of the pundits I read. They draw attention to Bush's subtlety. Notice the "edge?" Notice the criticism/not-criticism of Trump? Bush kind of spoke up.
Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, would not consent to the January 6 coup attempt. Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney, and his daughter, congressional leader Liz Cheney, drew a red line: Trump's January 6 attempt to overthrow the 2020 election was profoundly wrong. Like Pence, they said it publicly: Trump's attack on our democracy is disqualifying for any honor or future office.
Bush 43 has kept quiet. Bush has a forum and standing. Most people who voted for Trump had earlier voted twice for Bush 43. Bush has a role to fill in American history.
Bush concluded his essay with this:
I often say that the office of the president is more important than the occupant; that the institution of the presidency gives ballast to our ship of state. For that stability we are indebted to the wisdom of our founding fathers’ governing charter and the humility of our nation’s first president. It has guided us for 250 years, and it will strengthen us for our next 250 years.
Alas, no.
Trump reveals that the Constitution is full of loopholes and weak spots. Trump drives a truck through the supposed institutional ballast. The Constitution relies on a president's integrity, honesty, and sense of duty and shame. The institutions with armed power are under the president's control. The presidential institution does not give ballast. It gives wings and weapons.
The Constitution gives the president unchecked pardon power. A president can use it to pardon people upon receipt of a million-dollar contribution. A president can simply ignore the Emoluments Clause; his appointed attorney general says it is OK. A president can ignore the plain sense of the word "emergency" to grab power denied him by the Constitution. A president can claim we are in a state of war.
George W. Bush said everything will be OK. The words of the Constitution protect us. No. Our republic is protected by people with the courage not to stay silent, not to cross one's fingers and hope that sooner or later Americans will draw the right inferences. Not to count on words in a document. The wisdom of the Constitution requires ambition to check ambition. Unjust power is stopped by just power. It requires people with a platform to say no and send a clear signal to the American people that something is very wrong.
Bush had an opportunity and a duty, and he didn't show up. He tiptoed.
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6 comments:
The Bush Presidency was SCOTUS first betrayal of the Constitution. It brought us 9/11, the Iraq War, and nearly destroyed the economy.
What did you expect?
Bush used to be the worst president of my lifetime, but it is disappointing he doesn’t speak up. Republicans are more loyal to their party than to the country in my opinion.
I didn’t proofread yesterday’s statement I made- I should have written if you want to live longer, getting a flu vaccine is more important than being obese.
Bush is not tiptoeing. He is observing the "norms of polite company" as well as "presidential traditions"---by staying out of politics once out of office. In other words, he is doing his duty. His father would have done the same.
To whom much is given, much is expected. There is only one former GOP president. Bush holds a unique spot. It isn't courage or restraint. It is enabling Trump.
I get it that many people want to protect Trump and to perpetuate the illusion that he is part of the American tradition of presidential behavior, that Trump isn't he is a sharp break from it. The public looks for informed leaders to coach and guide them about what is reasonable. (That is what republican government is all about.) Silence is not harmless. It is a statement that Trump is not out of bounds. Bush has standing in a way that other Republicans do not.
Trump is indeed a sharp break from the American tradition of presidential behavior. Bush aptly declines to exacerbate that.
Silence in the face of evil is complicity.
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